


The Light of Day

by sksdwrld



Series: Choris Solaris [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M, Injury Recovery, M/M, Multi, Past Drug Addiction, Rape Recovery, Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-08
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-01-15 00:54:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1285195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sksdwrld/pseuds/sksdwrld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following a run-in with a pimp, Mordred was taken in by a kindly couple who saw him through his withdrawal and have offered him a place to stay until he gets on feet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For Camelot land's prompt, "The Hunters Heart".

It had been two weeks since Morgana had rescued Mordred from the alleyway, and she was fairly certain that he hadn't stepped foot outside of their flat since then. He was starting to gain back some of the weight he'd lost while detoxing, but he had lost much of his color and was starting to look sickly.

On the upside, the flat had never been cleaner, although she had drawn the line at her bedroom after Mordred folded a laundry basket full of her unmentionables and Merlin went a little caveman. On the downside, her grocery bill was talking quite the hit and she hadn't had any real alone time with Merlin, and that was making Merlin grumpier than he usually was.

When Morgana got home from work, she changed into a pair of jeans, a flowy, printed top and her boots with the walking heel. She passed by Mordred, who was seated at the computer, caught his arm, and tugged him up. "C'mon Sweetie, we're going treasure hunting."

"Uhhh, where?" Mordred skidded along after her.

"Skipping," Morgana waved a genteel hand toward the door. Mordred frowned at her and she sighed. "Bin-diving?"

"I know what skipping is," Mordred said. "You just didn't strike me as the type. It's disgusting and I've done it before, when I had to, but..."

"Oh, Sweetie, no....no. Not for food. For _treasures_ , you know, chairs, lamps, desks, things of that nature. I paint them in my free time and sell or donate them."

"Oh." Mordred said. He bent and began to stuff his feet into his shoes. Then, he straightened and swallowed. "But...What if somebody sees me?"

"I'll be with you, Mordred. You'll be okay. I just check the alleys around here and see if there's any boot-sales. We won't be more than a few blocks away at any given time." "I can't save you, if they come..." Mordred ducked his head.

"Oh honey," Morgana pulled Mordred close and kissed his temple. "You can't stay in here forever, and I promise you that nothing is going to happen to us. This is a good neighborhood. C'mon, you've got me to protect you, and I'm scary, remember?"

Mordred kept his chin tucked to his chest as he grumbled, "You're not that scary, not like them."

Morgana sighed and frowning, went to the closet. She took out one of Merlin's track-jackets and a cap. "Here. You won't even be recognizable, especially if you tuck your hair up. Anyway, they're looking for a homeless junkie in bad clothes, not arm candy in a nice track suit."

Donning the jacket and cap, Mordred chewed his lip. "The hell is arm candy, anyway?"

"You." Morgana grinned. "You're a very good-looking guy, you know. You straighten up and I may just throw Merlin over."

Mordred snorted and let himself be pulled toward the door. "As if Merlin would ever let that happen. He'd kill me first." 

"It'd be a hell of a twink-fight, that's all I know..." Morgana laughed and pulled them out into the hallway of the complex before Mordred could hesitate. "In fact, you had better hope there's something good on the telly tonight or I'm going to douse you both in olive oil and make you wrestle for my amusement."

"Oh my God," Mordred replied, pressing his back flat against the wall while Morgana locked the door. "You are the strangest person I have ever met."

She grinned and held her hand out to him. "I'll take that as a compliment. Now give me your arm and I'll tell you about the time that I broke my brother’s nose."

Mordred was skittish for the first two blocks and Morgana pushed him so that of the two of them, he was walking closer to the buildings that they passed. When they got to the first alley, Mordred refused to boost her into the bin and shakily pulled himself up to look inside, reporting nothing of worth.

As a show of faith, Morgana went on without double checking. It wasn't as though they really needed anything. She still had the stash of book crates and terra cotta pots from two weeks ago in her bedroom that she could tackle if needs must.

By and by, they came upon a car boot sale where Mordred found an ancient lamp that he insisted Merlin would love, despite being encrusted with years of dust, and Morgana didn't have the heart to tell him that it didn't work and probably never would.

After that, they headed back to the flat, and occupied with the lamp, Mordred didn't seem nearly as jumpy as he had before. Morgana passed him a pleased smile and he grinned in return. The trip had done some good for the both of them.


	2. Chapter 2

When Morgana got home from work, the flat was filled with a tense silence. Mordred was sitting in one corner of the couch, looking chastised and clinging to a throw pillow. Merlin was in the easy chair with a disturbed look on his face.

Shutting the door and looking between them, Morgana frowned. "What's going on?"

Mordred refused to look at her and Merlin's eye's flicked to her then purposely toward the table. After slipping her boots off, she padded over. There was a stack of bills tucked inside a sheet of paper that had been folded in half. "What is this?"

No one responded and Morgana paused to count it. Then, she turned toward both of them again, waving the cash. "Someone tell me what this is and where it came from." 

After another minute of silence, Merlin cleared his throat. "Mordred gave it to me when I got home this afternoon." 

"Mordred?" Morgana turned toward him. "Mordred, there's almost £400 here. How did you come up with this?" 

His eyes snapped over and back so quickly that Morgana thought she might have imagined it. "How do you think?" 

Morgana's heart sank and she crossed over to him, putting her arm around Mordred's shoulder as she sat down. "Oh no, sweetie....no! Why would you do that?" 

"Look, I'm not stupid. I know that I am costing you money. You've bought me clothes. I eat your food. I use your electric and water when you're not here." Mordred said miserably. 

Morgana smoothed his hair back and sighed. "Mordred, honey, we took you in so that you didn't have to do this anymore. We don't want you on the street, doing that sort of thing. It's dangerous." 

"I heard you talking the other night," Mordred said. "I heard Merlin say how much I was costing you. I don't want you to struggle because of me. I can contribute. I can make good money. You can be comfortable again." 

"We won't accept it, Mordred..." Morgana shook her head and tried to hand the money back to him. 

The tears in Mordred's eyes spilled over as he pushed her hand away. "You have to!" 

"I can't. We can't." She put the money into his hand and closed his fingers around it, but both of her hands remained clasped around his, meaningfully. "Mordred, if Merlin and I let you give us this money, we'd be just as bad as pimps ourselves. And neither of us are happy that you've done this...I know I speak for Merlin too when I say, please don't do it again. I hate to think of you out there in some alley doing...doing whatever you did today. Don't put a price on yourself, Sweetie. No matter what they're willing to pay, it's not enough." 

"I...I can't be trusted with this," he whispered. "I still think about it sometimes, the way it makes the pain go away. The way it feels so good...you have to take it, Morgana, please. Don't let it tempt me." 

Morgana watched tears track down Mordred's cheeks and she exchanged glances with Merlin. "We'll hold this for you in an account until you think you're ready for it, but we won't ever spend it, okay?" 

Mordred nodded furiously and swiped at his eyes with his thumbs before offering the money back. Morgana took it and set it aside before pulling Mordred into a hug. He clung to her, sniffling against her neck as she pet him comfortingly. Pausing only a moment, Morgana beckoned to Merlin who got up with an eyeroll, put his hand on Mordred's shoulder and patted it a few times.

"There, there." Merlin said awkwardly. "There, there."


	3. Chapter 3

"Mordred?" Merlin leaned over Mordred's prone from on the sofa and put a hand to his forehead. 

The boy was flushed and sweaty, his eyes glazed when they fluttered open and lit on Merlin. "Sorry, sorry, I'll get up." He put his hands behind him and struggled into a sitting position.

"It's okay," Merlin said but eased down beside him, feeling his cheeks and forehead again. "You're hot, really hot."

"Yeah, ha," Mordred closed his eyes and his head fell back. "Don't feel so hot. My chest hurts."

"Your chest?" That sounded worrisome.

"Yeah, that spot where..." his fingertips gingerly touched his pectoral and he winced. When his hand dropped, there were two wet spots blooming through the fabric.

Merlin's stomach suddenly felt like a hollow pit and he tentatively reached for the hem of Mordred's shirt. "Let me see?"

Mordred dropped his hand down and his fingers grazed Merlin's just before pulling the fabric up to reveal the insignia that the pimp had burned into his skin. Most of the crust had fallen away to reveal a shiny, pink scar but near the bottom, the wound was still angry and raw, weeping yellow, cloudy pus. The skin around it was puffy, red, and ugly.

Merlin stood up, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm going to get the Sudocrem and then I'm going to phone in to call Gaius, let him know I won't be in. We need to get you to the clinic."

"No!" Mordred gripped Merlin's wrist in his hand before he could reach for his phone then rocked into the corner of the couch, pulling Merlin with him, their bodies a painful clash of bony angles. Mordred's eyes had suddenly gone wide and he shook his head over and over again. "No, you can't."

"Mordred!" Merlin leveled his steeliest gaze at him and reluctantly, Mordred released him. Merlin climbed off of him and smoothed the wrinkles out of his shirt. "I'm going to blame that on the fever...don't make me beat your arse. Now look, I know you don't want to go to the hospital, but it's been weeks, mate, weeks. That shit is infected. It looks bad, and mate, it doesn't smell too great either. You need a doctor."

The way Mordred's lip wobbled and eyes filled with tears made Merlin's heart sink. "Please...please! Cenred has people in his pocket every where. He'll kill me if he finds me and I don't want to die, Merlin, please! He's a monster."

"That thing on your chest is getting worse instead of better and you could die from the infection. We need to do something about it. We need help, Mordred." As Mordred dissolved into terrified tears, Merlin shoveled his hand through his hair and then began to pace. "Okay, okay. Let me call Morgana. Her sister's a nurse. Maybe she can make a house call."


	4. Chapter 4

Mordred was feverishly shivering and too far gone to open his eyes by the time Morgana's sister made it over. Merlin made the cursory introductions and although he couldn't remember her name moment later, there was something familiar about the sound of her voice.

The nurse's fingers were cool on his skin, but he gritted his teeth and bit back a groan when she began to prod the wound on his chest, sending shards of pain through him. Mordred couldn't help but yelp and twist away however when she dragged rough fabric over the area and it began to throb.

"Alright, alright," the nurse soothed and patted his shoulder. "Merlin, hand me that bag there..."

A moment of rustling ensued and then Merlin asked, "What's that?"

"Just some morphine. He's not going to let me at it, otherwise and it needs a good, deep cleaning or it's going to go necrotic. Flesh eating."

"You carry morphine in your purse?" Merlin said in disbelief. And then, "I don't think it's a good idea. He's...He's a former addict, you know. Won't this...punt him off the wagon, so to speak?"

"House calls are lucrative, Merlin..." the nurse drawled smugly. "And he'll be fine, I promise you. Just a little dose to take the edge off...here, hold his arm for me so I don't puncture a vessel."

Merlin's hands were vice-like on either side of his elbow and Mordred's whinge of protest turned into a near-erotic moan when the needle slid into the crook of his arm, awakening the nerve bundles there and the memory of what a needle stick promised. The fire bled through his veins and fuzzed his brain in an instant, and he sank into the couch cushions with a contented sigh.

"There, you see?" The nurse prompted and went back to work, sponging, scraping and scrubbing. It was rhythmic and soothing and the pain didn't matter because Mordred was flying, high as a kite in the cozy soft clouds.

When she was done, she taped the rough cloth to his skin and packed up her supplies which clicked and snapped as she put them away. "Merlin, be a dear and make us a cuppa. I'm just going to check his vitals and then we'll let him rest, hmm?"

There was a grumble and a shuffle and the nurse paused a moment before caressing Mordred's face. "There, there, Pretty. Though you'd gotten away, didn't you?"

Mordred kept floating on for a moment or two and then his heart seized in a vice as his brain supplied an image of the woman who'd treated him once before. It took effort to pry his eyes open, but there she was, cold smile and icy stare. He struggled to sit up but her hand on his bandaged wound laid him flat again.

"Don't bother to scream or shout. No one is going to believe the rantings of a doped up little junky like you anyway, hmm?" Her fingernail traced its way up and tapped his quivering bottom lip.

"Cenred is offering quite the bonus for your return, Pretty, and I'll be damned if I'm not going to turn you in."

"No!" Mordred's horrified whisper was hoarse.

"Yes. And I'll tell you something else. Fate may have brought you to my bleeding heart sister, but you won't involve her in this mess, or I'll kill you myself. Slowly and painfully until you regret that day your mother spread her legs and conceived you. Understand?" She placed a pill between his lips then pressed it back with her forefinger until it was in the recesses of his throat.

Mordred whimpered, swallowed, and managed a nod, panic filling him but the drugs rendering him useless. She'd given him more than just a little to take the edge off. She'd dosed him to the edge of oblivion on purpose.

"Good boy. Now, I'll leave you a few oxy's to get you through until tomorrow morning, and then you're going to walk two blocks down to the Petrol station and wait for a car to come for you. Do you understand?"

He started to cry and she patted his cheek and stood up. "Good boy. Good little Pretty. Although I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to call you that..."

Mordred choked on the snot that ran backwards down his throat and began to blubber, his words not making sense, not even to himself. Merlin was back in the room in moments. "What's going on? Morgause?"

"Oh, the poor dear is just overwhelmed. Have you got something sweet for him? Here, let's take a look..." taking Merlin by the arm, the nurse escorted him back into the kitchen and began to rummage through the cabinets and fridge, chattering away in a manner that hid her true nature.

Meanwhile, Mordred's world was swiftly closing in and crushing him with the weight of his future. He laid there feeling like a beached whale, watching his inevitable death look over him and he was helpless to stop it. He wept softly until the next medicated wave crashed over him and dragged him asunder.


End file.
